High-Speed Boat Operators – Challenge the Industry

04 June 2012

The 5th High Speed Boat Operations Forum has just been concluded, with more delegates and more boats than ever before.

HSBO Forum once again successfully gathered the elite in professional High-Speed boating to test cutting-edge technology, discuss challenges and opportunities with the sole purpose of moving the professional boating industry forward.

One challenge discussed was the spiraling cost of procurement. Many see the benefit of collaborating with like-minded organizations to bring down costs, learn from others’ mistakes and successes and generate better results at a lower accumulated cost. After all, we live in a world with more joint exercises and ventures taking place than ever before.

“Just look at the joint operations going on off the coast of Somalia” – said Johan Jorstadius before continuing to speak about the importance of “combined and joint interoperability”, a very current topic, especially in Europe.

260 delegates from 27 countries, dressed in dry suits and tactical gear, trialed 28 different high-speed craft, flagged from Spain in the south to Iceland in the North, Finland in the East and Canada in the west, at speeds of up to 76 knots.

HSBO Forum is one of the few venues in the world where a large number of professional boats can be sea trialed at full speed, in open water and in high waves. HSBO Forum is a non profit-making, “by invitation only” event and the number of applicants by far exceeded the number of seats available.

The scientific part of the program included the most recent advances in boat operations, hull design, human factors, shock exposure, crew training and on-board equipment.

Amongst the presentations that received especially good feedback, was the Finnish Navy’s experiences of high-speed boat tasks in “Operation Atalanta” – contemporary real- world experience of pirate hunting – quite literally an old game using very new tactics.